Adcom GDA-700

Amps, preamps, speakers, cables, and any other Non-CJ products.
Post Reply
eagle6014
Pro
Pro
Posts: 93
Joined: Sat Aug 25, 2012 11:48 pm

Adcom GDA-700

Post by eagle6014 »

I haven't posted anything here for a while, but a change was made to my system that I thought was notable. Last week I bought off eBay a used Adcom GDA-700 d/a converter. With shipping it was $278. A bargain considering long ago it was about a grand new. For some time I knew I had discs encoded with HDCD. I've heard these discs plenty of times, but never through an HDCD decoder. So I waited patiently for a very long time for the timing to line up with available funds. I never considered it to be a priority. But now I can honestly say I can hear a difference. My first disc to play was Mark Knopflers Golden Heart. Track 11, Rudiger, was much smoother w/o Mark's in your face midrange voice. A piano from the background was a little more pronounced in the rt channel. Something that I had not noticed before. This dac is only to compliment my SACD player not replace it. Overall my SACD player is superior in terms of quality and sound. I do actually have more SACD's than I do HDCD coded discs. I'm using a half meter Kimber AGDL digital cable (almost sold it on A-gon) and a pr of Kimber PBJ's to my c-j ET3. I'll replace the PBJ's in due time with something else. No decision on that yet b/c again, it's not a priority. Oh this dac also has balanced outputs so perhaps it might be a good buy for someone wanting that. Keep your eyes open for one. :D
Attachments
Adcom GFA-700 and Marantz SA8004
Adcom GFA-700 and Marantz SA8004
ADCOM 700.JPG (447.83 KiB) Viewed 597 times
User avatar
admin
Site Admin
Site Admin
Posts: 4565
Joined: Tue Jan 03, 2012 1:50 pm
Location: New Hampshire, USA
Contact:

Re: Adcom GDA-700

Post by admin »

First, congratulations on the Adcom, it looks really nice on the picture and I'm sure sounds even better! For SACD players that are not already able to read the HDCD format these external dacs are great. Many SACD players seem to have that ability built in, but not all, so you have to check each player individually. As in your case, it is worthwhile to invest in a separate decoder. The interesting thing about HDCD is that on a compatible player it should sound better than a regular CD (as it's essentially a 20 bit encode vs the 16 bit standard CD), but it was meant to be backwards compatible. However, when played on a regular CD player the audio quality is actually less than a standard CD (although it's supposed to be a very minor difference).

If you are hearing the differences than I think it was a good purchase as your squeezing those last few bits of digital audio out of those tracks. Once again, congrats on the purchase!
-admin
Home Theater in Member Gallery
Main stereo: ART Amplifier and ET7s2. 2nd stereo: PV-14L and MV-55. Previously Owned: PF2 preamp, Evolution 2000 Amp, PV-12AL preamp, D/A-2b Vacuum-Tube Digital Processor.
eagle6014
Pro
Pro
Posts: 93
Joined: Sat Aug 25, 2012 11:48 pm

Re: Adcom GDA-700

Post by eagle6014 »

Ya the Marantz player I have doesn't decode HDCD. If for any reason my Yamaha Blu-ray player bites the dust, I'll get a much better universal Blu-ray from either Oppo or Cambridge Audio that can do it all. Then both the Marantz & Adcom are heading for the secondary market. You probably noticed the Adcom has some obvious cosmetic flaws. There's no telling how many owners it's had. Oh well, you get what you pay for, Pat.
User avatar
admin
Site Admin
Site Admin
Posts: 4565
Joined: Tue Jan 03, 2012 1:50 pm
Location: New Hampshire, USA
Contact:

Re: Adcom GDA-700

Post by admin »

If you have a DAC, what is nice is that you can bitstream that signal out of any transport and it really shouldn't make a difference as the DAC allows for a high quality sound from the HDCD. Even if you upgrade to a player that inherently supports hdcd you may still prefer the dac in the adcom. I can vouch for the oppo's, they very nice units (and reasonably priced).
-admin
Home Theater in Member Gallery
Main stereo: ART Amplifier and ET7s2. 2nd stereo: PV-14L and MV-55. Previously Owned: PF2 preamp, Evolution 2000 Amp, PV-12AL preamp, D/A-2b Vacuum-Tube Digital Processor.
eagle6014
Pro
Pro
Posts: 93
Joined: Sat Aug 25, 2012 11:48 pm

Re: Adcom GDA-700

Post by eagle6014 »

Just an update here. I removed the Kimber PBJs & replaced them w/ Nordost Blue Heaven flat line (0.6m). Bought them new yesterday even though they are the older series. Normally $200 new, but got em out the door for $128. A nice improvement in sound. It brings in a little bit of warmth and smooths out the highs. I like listening to rock music through this dac especially from my early 80s-90s discs. Sounds better on rock music than running sound directly out of the Marantz SA-8004.

I found another hidden HDCD coded disc that I wasn't even aware of, Talking Heads - Stop Making Sense (New Special Edition). There is absolutely no indication anywhere on the sleeve, insert, or disc that it's HDCD coded. A pleasant surprise I assure you. :D This will be my reference live disc should anyone visit. G'day, Pat.
eagle6014
Pro
Pro
Posts: 93
Joined: Sat Aug 25, 2012 11:48 pm

Re: Adcom GDA-700

Post by eagle6014 »

Just some simple changes on this dac. I bought a used pr of Nordost Red Dawn flat line (1M) to connect to the ET3. Still has a similar sound to the Blue heavens, but adds some smoother lower frequencies. I believe I've kept a consistent sound using the same maker of cables. For the most part now I use the dac more so that the Marantz for sound unless it's an SACD. I would have to make a signifigant upgrade to the interconnects on the Marantz player to the ET3 to hear a difference. :mrgreen:
Post Reply